According to Ruth Culham, sentence fluency has two important dimensions: the grammar that makes a group of words a sentence and the way sentences sound to the ear.
Signs that young writers are working well with sentence fluency include:
working with several words in a row, with attention to phrasing
being more concerned about sentence quality than sentence correctness
experimenting with different sentence beginnings
crafting sentences of varying length
weaving questions and statements into text
using transitional words to connect one sentence to the next
repeating sounds, words, and phrases to create a pattern
writing passages that can be read aloud with ease (Culham, 2005)
As students begin to develop as writers, instruction in the three key qualities of sentence fluency becomes important:
Establishing flow, rhythm, and cadence
Varying sentence length and structure
Constructing sentences that enhance meaning (Culham, 2003)
SENTENCE FLUENCY
According to Ruth Culham, sentence fluency has two important dimensions: the grammar that makes a group of words a sentence and the way sentences sound to the ear.
Signs that young writers are working well with sentence fluency include:
As students begin to develop as writers, instruction in the three key qualities of sentence fluency becomes important:
Sentence Fluency Handout (Madison, WI)
Lesson Ideas for Sentence Fluency